Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a pledge for a five-year, $250,000 donation from Stephen A. Smith, the co-host of the sports talk show First Take on the ESPN network. Half of the money will be allocated to the athletics department and half to the department of mass communication. Smith is a 1991 graduate of the university.

The University of Rhode Island is leading a five-year, $24 million grant program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The grant program will fund sustainable fisheries project in Ghana. The grant program is being led by researchers at the Coastal Resource Center of the Graduate School of Oceanography at the university.

Indiana University-Purdue UniversityIndianapolis received a $1.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a program that will enable students from historically Black colleges and universities to participate in research on cell membrane proteins. The grant program is under the direction of Lisa M. Jones, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at IUPUI.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that will enable the university’s Wilson Library to hire an archivist for its African American collections.

Alcorn State University, a historically Black educational institution in Mississippi, received a $1 million donation from Kathy and Joe Sanderson, Jr. to support the Walter Washington Scholarship Endowment. Sanderson is the CEO of Sanderson Farms, the third largest poultry producer in the United States. The $1 million donation is the largest gift from an individual received by the university in its 145-year history.

Union County College in Cranford, New Jersey, received a $500,000 donation from Helen Chaney, a 1948 graduate of the college. Part of the donation will financially support the Close the Gap program at the college which seeks to boost the graduation rate of African American students.

Historically Black North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro received a $250,000 contribution from AT&T corporation to support programs at the university’s Middle College, an all-male public school. Part of the grant will be used to fund college visits for students at the school.

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Professional sports teams have discontinued playing Kate Smith’s version of “God Bless America” at games due to her recording of songs in the 1930s that contained racist lyrics. Which statement best reflects your view?

I agree that Smith’s version of “God Bless America” should not be played.

Smith’s recordings with racist lyrics should be considered in context of the times.

Abraham Lincoln made racist comments, should we ban the reciting of the Gettysburg Address?